Category: Familia

The Day at Tokyo Disney Sea

We had so much fun!!!!
I love these girls so much.
Seriously.
Nothing can be better than
hanging out in the magical land of Disney
with your sweet sisters and BFF.

One of the things I love about Disney resort
is that everyone is SO NICE!!!
And not just the people who work there,
like literally EVERYONE.
It must the the magical atmosphere or something.
We were trying to take a group picture and
a couple walking by just stopped on their way to the entrance
and asked if they could take a picture for us.
I love small things like that.

Yoko got the cutest Duffy popcorn basket!
We ate two flavors.
Apple Cinnamon and Indian Curry.
I’ve always loved Indian Curry flavor
but the new Apple Cinnamon was really good, too!
Tasted like Christmas 🙂

We rode such random rides!
Tower of Terror
Jasmine’s Flying Carpets
Storm Rider
Center of the Earth

The girls put up with all my pictures (haha) and
we pretty much talked and ate
all the way through waiting in lines for rides.
I just shake my head when I see people
waiting in line together and
they’re all staring at their cellphones.
(Am I weird and old fashioned?)
Since we all live apart and don’t get together that often
it was great to catch up with what we’ve been doing
and share all those crazy stories.

We had a blast, Disney Sea, and we will be back 🙂

The Hexenhaus

Lisa Naomi and I headed to Yurakucho
to see the display of the Muji Homemade Town.
Did you know that ‘Hexenhaus’ means ‘Enchanted House’ in German?
Well, this miniature town was just that…enchanting!

This display has about 100 handmade hexenhause
and used over 15,000 cookies.
There’s even a train circling the town tracks!

Did I mention that this display smells great, too?
I could just walk around looking at the details for hours.
Fortunately, my sister was there to drag me away
so other people can have a look.
It was a pretty popular spot in the store!
Oh and did I mention that
if you take a picture of the display
and post it on instagram with the hashtag #mujixmas
it will be displayed online on their website?
(like mine!!! top left pic!!!)
All this is so much fun that
it’s making me want to get my hands on
a hexenhaus kit for christmas!
Hmmmmm.

The Day at Skytree

Tokyo Skytree.
It was voted the Number One Product of 2012
by Nikkei Trendynet last month (via Yahoo.co.jp).
It was all anyone could talk about when they opened in May
and they’ve had over 2,000,000 visitors
in the first four months of opening!
So I knew it was really crowded.
But since my baby sister was in town
and my coworker told me it’s not as crowded anymore
we decided to head out to see for ourselves!
Let me tell you.
This tower is so damn tall
you can’t even tell how tall it is.
I mean, you know it’s tall.
So much taller than our skyscrapers.
But it’s like trying to figure out how big the moon is.
Too tall to comprehend and you can’t really tell the difference.
Or maybe that’s just me.
I don’t know.
But the view was AMAZING!!!
It was kind of cool seeing the Nishi Shinjuku skyscrapers
because that’s where I’m always standing and looking out from.
We have so many houses and buildings jam packed into this city!
It looks like a lizards back or something.
All bumpy with buildings and hardly any bare land.
Crazy but that’s just one of the things I like about Tokyo.
Also Lisa Naomi and I tried out this new frozen yogurt place!
It was SO good.
So so good.
I wanted more.
Seriously, froyo is awesome, yo.

That Road Trip to Ehime

My sister and I went on a road trip!
First time heading “home” to Ehime
(because my parents moved down there this spring).
And we drove there in Y’s tiny car!
Things happened.
We got stuck in early morning traffic,
We spend way too much time
exploringalmost every service area.
And we did not realize that
Shizuoka prefecture would go on
forever and ever.
But.
Y picked up the speed in the end
and we somehow got there in 10 hours!
(I think blasting Lady Gaga and singing along helped) 
I had a great time!

Family photo!
So good to be back together again!
(I definitely need to practice my selfie technique)

Here we are just the girls
heading out to shop!
(You know we weren’t back for hours)

I never realized it but
Ehime has beautiful mountains.
My mom said that the mountains in Ehime
were very feminine compared to up north in Akita.
I think she may be right.
We spent the whole week just relaxing at home,
watching the Olympics (of course),
or just chatting and catching up!
We also had family dinners
with uncles and aunts who live near by.
(My daddy grew up in Ehime)
It was a really short summer (obon) vacation
but it was great seeing everybody!
Can’t wait to come back again at the end of the year! x

That Christmas Holiday in Osaka

Heading home for Christmas!

One of the great things about a window seat.
This fantastic view!

Finally got my hands on an ICOCA.
Whoo-hoo!
This view from the river says
“you’re home” to me.

Ever since I started living on my own
Christmas has been just a regular day at work.
But this year I took a few extra days off
so I could go home for Christmas.
Before I know it, I am helping out at church,
standing at the reception desk of the Christmas concert.
Feels like home 😀
Merry Christmas! x

That Weekend Sleepover with Birthday Cake

Sisters sleepover at my place!
One in Tokyo,
another in Ibaraki,
and the third in Hiroshima.
Because we’re always so far apart
sleepovers like this are special occasions.

A tiny bit late but…
we celebrated Y’s birthday, too!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

We took tons of sleepover snapshots
which, of course, I feel obligated to should share.

We talked a lot
slept a lot.
And had pancakes for breakfast.
Yay for sleepovers! x

That Winter Afternoon with My Sister

So crazy to think that my sister is in high school.
She started her winter break
and is staying with me in Tokyo for a bit.
We watch Friends episodes together.
Apparently a 13 year difference doesn’t affect
the popularity of this classic tv series. Ha.
My sister is super cool and casual.
Nothing like me in high school.
Looking forward to seeing how she matures and grows. x

That Goodbye to Grandpa in Okinawa

My sweet handsome grandpa.
I can still hear his voice saying
“Ah Kaori-chan?”
every time I would call.
We knew he wasn’t doing well
but it still came as a surprise to me.
I flew to Okinawa
to say goodbye to my grandpa.
Grandpa’s family grave had a beautiful view from above the hill.
My grandma said that he’ll rest peacefully here.
I agree.

The yard that grandpa always took good care of
was lush with green leaves.
As if he were still there.

Grandma looked so lonely.
And strong at the same time.
She told us over and over again
“thank you for coming.”
That night
we all gathered around the table for dinner.
Grandma sat there quietly eating,
listening to everyone still reminiscing about grandpa.
So many stories.
So much love.
My eyes went to my grandma.
Still quietly eating, still listening.
But every once in awhile
her face would relax into a soft smile.